finally booked my free HMY flight. so it's settled; one last stint from March 28-April 3 on the East Coast, then it's back here & back to business. that hole in my wallet's starting to look bigger everyday, so i'd better start looking for employment too.
annnyway...on w/ the:
DAY IV: Eastern HK Island, North Point – Green Room Studios, Flower Market - Tuesday, February 8 2005 (Chinese NYE)
- wake up, chill & eat breakfast @ home, UT puts on this pirated concert DVD he’s got of this crazy pianist dude: Maksim. Pretty cool…
1330: off to North Point: visit buddy Kit's apartment which houses his studio - Green Room studios
- chill there for a bit, then him & his wife Sue have to go for appointment so I go wandering on my own...
- advice when crossing the streets in HK: look both ways (not for cars, for cops!)
- walked from West to East on the eastern half of HK Island, got a jacket for $30something CDN, had some buns for lunch, and a smoked salmon sandwich for $12HK = $2CDN?! deal!
1700-1800: home for a nap, then off to Mei Foo
- 50M van to MTR took 30 instead of 5 min. b/c of NYE traffic
- NYE dinner @ aunt’s in Mei Foo w/ relatives, cousins, their friends etc.
- interesting topic came up during dinner: Cora (cousin) works @ a clothing store & said that when these filipino maids come in to buy pants they don't bother trying the pants on cuz there's too many ppl waiting - they just hold the pants by the waistlines up to their necks & wrap them around. if they wrap around perfectly & touch @ the back then they'll fit. O_o?! we were all like no way...so her brother gets up from the table n goes to his room, comes back w/ a pair of jeans n tries it: it really works! did u know that? so ur neck x 2 = ur waist? it's true: i buy dress shirts w/ 15.5" neck usu. & my pants are usu. 31" waist (on avg). crazy...
- walk flower market afterwards w/ Cora & her b/f Carver. that's kinda funny: cora & carver
- crazy crowd in Mong Kok, lined up from like 0100-0300 just on the streets
note: some public bathrooms here had ash trays at the urinals so ppl could smoke & piss simultaneously. wow, what luxury.
- walk through the market @ some place, come out, have some fishballs, taxi back to Nathan Rd.
0400: HK's currently got a lot of cool lil cafe's opening up in old apartment/warehouse buildings; up on high levels rather than at street level & Cora wanted to take me to one so i could check it out. saw a familiar-looking one: Central Perk (Friends should sue!) but no seats, so we went to some other one: Bazaar Café. pretty cool, chilled n talked w/ C&C for a good bit
0510: MTR Home, N8 bus home
0610: shower, crash
End of DAY IV
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DAY V (Chinese New Year’s Day): a break
- Wednesday, February 9
- had a nice long sleep till 1400 today: woke up to a ?!veggie?! breakfast @ UT's (kinda a chinese NY tradition i guess...)
- Aunt felt bad for me, so she made me some meat =)
- Stayed home, nice n quiet, packed/organized/rested up for upcoming China trip from the 11-16
- Congee dinner, watched soccer match: HK vs Brazil (HK lost 7-1)
2200: grabbed my headphones, a plum n went for a walk, took some night shots
0030: sleep
End of Relaxing Day V
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DAY VI: (Senior) Shaolin Soccer & Dinner in Tai Koo - Thursday, February 10
1100: had the brunch that was sposed to be @ 1000 in the apartment w/ Aunt Winnie’s younger sister’s family & my younger cousin Sarah
- she from HK originally, but just came back about a year ago to look for work after doing highschool n stuff in Vancouver, so she’s pretty green to HK too.
1430: go watch UT’s football match: him n his buddies from the old HK National team vs. police @ PSRC in Kowloon.
- they have a match every year just to celebrate the NY (i nevr really rmmbr hearing much about 'ol uncle Tyrone other than he was soccer crazy; played goal for the HK National team; & looked like Bruce Lee when he was young haha)
- bunch ‘o old guys, many of which smelled like tiger balm, one guy well into his 60s
- their’s was the last of 3 games that day, they were old, but still pretty quick w/ good passing plays, the oldies still got skills
- Final: 3-1 win for UT’s team
1830: Dinner @ Uncle Ed’s mom’s near Tai Koo Place @ night
- Home to pack for 2mrrw; gotta wake up @ 0750 & catch the MTR to Kowloon & meet Aunt Yu Ming @ 0930 to go to: China...
End of Day VI
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